Blondies

I can’t remember when I had my first Blondies but I’m pretty sure that, like most people, I was somewhat of a skeptic. I mean, why would you make a brownie without the most important ingredient?

The doubt did not last long! Although white chocolate is (a) not really chocolate, and (b) unbelievably sweet the flavour you really get from a blondie is a deep, rich caramel with a gloriously comforting toffee twang. Of course they’re still very sweet, so if you don’t have a sweet tooth this is not the baked good for you – even with the addition of sour cranberries and pecan nuts, as I’ve used here.

I’d like to thank a couple of online recipes for suggesting using melted butter at the outset of making these, rather than creaming softened butter and sugar together. The molten butter dissolves the sugar on contact and when they’re beaten together you get a delightfully light near-caramel without much effort – something which helps the mixture stay gooey and rich from mixing bowl to mouth.

These really are delightful, and a hit with everyone I’ve tested them on, but should come with a note that they be eaten moderation to save you from a serious sugar crash afterwards – you have been warned.

Blondies

If you have an extra sweet tooth and a dark chocolate brownie is just a bit too serious for you then why not make these instead? You still get a buttery soft, chewy texture but in this case paired with sweet white chocolate and a few sharp (optional) cranberries to make them feel a bit more grown up.

Prep Time20mins

Cook Time30mins

Total Time50mins

Course: Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: Baking, Cakes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

200gButter

275gSoft Light Brown Sugar

2large Free Range Eggsbeaten

1tspVanilla Extract

275gPlain Flour

1½tspBaking Powder

200gWhite Chocolatechopped into small chunks

50gPecan Nutsoptional

50gDried Cranberriesoptional

Instructions

Add sugar to butter, followed by eggs and vanilla Fold in flour, then add chocolate, nuts, etc Bake for 25 mins until set

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a brownie pan with baking parchment.

Melt the butter in a small pan, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the melted butter over the sugar in a large mixing bowl, then beat well until combined and lightened in colour.

Add in the beaten eggs and vanilla extract then beat again until light and slightly aerated,

Sift in the flour and baking powder, then fold the mixture together until you have a rich caramel coloured mixture. Fold in the chocolate chunks and, if you’re using them, the pecan nuts and cranberries.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until just cooked through. Check after 25 minutes with a skewer – you want it to come out without raw cake batter on it, but it doesn’t need to be clean like a sponge cake as it will continue to cook a little whilst it cools.

Put the tin on a cooling rack but allow the blondie to cool in the tray. Once cooled, remove and cut into bars of your preferred size.